MOUNT PLEASANT, MI – As a founding member of the country supergroup Alabama, Jeff Cook says he has quite the birthday present coming Aug. 27.

That when the group is set to release “Alabama & Friends,” joining the group with a handful of today’s biggest stars, singing the classic Alabama hits.

“It was like a jam session,” Cook said of the recordings. “We have a couple of new cuts on there, too.”

And two days later, on Thursday, Aug. 29, Cook and cousins Teddy Gentry and Randy Owen join Love and Theft at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort’s outdoor arena in Mount Pleasant. The concert begins at 8 p.m. and tickets, available at the box office and through etix.com, cost $47, $42 and $25.

Titled the Back to the Bowery tour, it takes the band back to its roots, where Alabama got its start at the Myrtle Beach, S.C., club in the early ‘70s. And as he understands it, he said, “this will be it,” Cook said, admitting he’s not 25 anymore.

“That’s what Randy keeps saying,” he said, chuckling. “But as long as we keep people entertained, we’re good.”

Everything is more laid back now, he said; they’re not worried about making money anymore. With 23 gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums under their belts, along with 43 No. 1 singles and more than 73 million records in sales, they have nothing more to prove.

They’ve also received more than 150 industry awards, including eight for Entertainer of the Year, two Grammy Awards and two People’s Choice Awards. They have their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

As for what they bring to the stage, “I’d hope after 40 years, we’d know the songs,” he said. “But it’s different, like apples and oranges.”

And it isn’t exactly as if they’ve all taken a 14-year vacation, he added. Cook started up the Jeff Cook and the All-Star Goodtime Band and they’ve had three No. 1 hits on the independent radio charts. Owen did some playing, he said, and Gentry did some writing and recording.

In 1973, “I felt we were a little on the cutting edge,” he said of Alabama. “Everyone has an opinion but a lot of what I see in country now is just bad rock ‘n’ roll. I think we advanced country music.”

Back at The Bowery, “it never occurred to me that this was going to be anything more than just an hour or so at a club,” he said. “But we were just getting started. This is kind of the same, playing the local night clubs.

“I don’t think we do the same show twice. You have the musts, ‘Tennessee River’ and ‘Mountain Music’ but because of timing, a lot of songs fall between the cracks.

“I’m flattered that fans still want us to do the music. I think they’ll have a good time.”